Saturday, April 30, 2011

Feure was a wonderful artist of the Art Nouveau style, who crafted soft, romantic works. Also he was, most probably, influenced by Beardsley, especially in certain of his pieces (see Swan Lake below). And Feure in his life rejected academic teachings, finding them useless in his respect, and pursued his own unique art, which led to a death in poverty and without notice. Now I'm afraid it's a bright Saturday, and I had a long night, so this'll have to be a short post. Enjoy the day.

Friday, April 29, 2011

For me, Sorolla y Bastida stands among the greatest Impressionists, holding himself ably even in the company of Monet. I can recall once walking tiredly through the Met, and finding myself shocked at one of Sorolla's paintings of a beach, especially shocked at never having heard of Sorolla before. And, unfortunately, I'm not the exception, as he's not the sort of name to slip off of the tongues of young artists today. Though I shouldn't make it seem as if I dug him out of the cellars of history, because Sorolla is present, but in a rather set-aside way, which I think him wholly undeserving of. What do you think of him?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Carracci is one of the great painters of the Baroque period, though not as well remembered as certain of his contemporaries such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt, yet many of those same contemporaries were admirers of his work, including the wonderful Rubens. What I like most about Carracci is his amazing ability to show the emotion of his characters, which is a quality especially evident in his religious pieces (e.g. Mocking of Christ).

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Women in respite is a nearly constant theme throughout Moore's work. And the theme and the style he used created that soft languishment that makes for a very particular type of beauty. Also Moore in much of his art did not try to relay a message, so much as he tried to express his conception of a particular subject's beauty, which is not necessarily something you can say about certain of his fellow Classicists, such as Leighton.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

For this post I'll let Man Ray speak; "The yachts skimming along the sea had given me an idea - I'd interpret the regatta against the blazing sun, realize my desire to paint a picture more or less from the scene before me. Taking a bus back to the hotel I set to work at once. Without brushes, painting directly with the tubes, I sketched in the boats, the sails black against the sky, and the sun in swirls of pure colours behind them. It was very impressionistic, joyful yet sombre; it might have been traced back to that unhappy Van Gogh whose colours expressed so much tragedy. However my monochromatic effect was more austere - there could be no mistake about my intention to avoid making a pretty picture."

Monday, April 25, 2011

Ando Hiroshige (or Utagawa Hiroshige or Ichiyusai Hiroshige) is one of the greatest Japanese painters. And his life is rather fascinating, including the fact that he was a firefighter until 1823 and a Buddhist monk in his last two years. As for his legacy, he had a profound influence on following artists, including such faraway painters as van Gogh, who copied some of Hiroshige's works. And I love Hiroshige who at his best produces a uniquely soft romanticism that's difficult to resist.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Van Rysselberghe was a monumental figure during his lifetime, constantly recreating his style as new influences came within reach. It would be an exhausting exercise to list his influences and friends, suffice it to say that nearly every group he was contemporary with, excluding his last decade or so, was very fond of having his acquaintance (in his last years he looked down on the art of figures such as Picasso). His work is some of the most vivacious of his period, especially his final nudes, which have a strong quality of life.